GAZETTE Volume 22, No
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GAZETTE Volume 22, No. 42 • November 4, 2011 • A weekly publication for Library staff Register Sets Priorities And Projects For Copyright By Judith Nierman Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante addressed U.S. Copyright Office staff at a series of meetings on Oct. 24 to announce her priorities and special projects for the next two years. In a document released to the public the next day, Pallante summarized ambi- tious plans regarding copyright policy and administrative practice and announced Abby Brack 10 new projects focused on improving the Amy Harrell photographs Lincoln artifacts as conservator Maria Nugent watches. quality and efficiency of office services. For the benefit of the public, the report also summarizes the history, responsibili- ties and funding of the office. Lincoln Jewelry at Library Lands The priorities include initiatives in copyright policy as well as administrative Supporting Role in Spielberg Film practice. One policy priority is exploring issues relating to mass book digitization. by Steven Spielberg that stars Daniel Day- The office followed up with a discus- By Mark Hartsell Lewis in the title role and is scheduled sion document on the subject on Oct. for release late next year. my Andrews Harrell arrived at the 31 (available on the Copyright Office A costumer will study Harrell’s photos Library of Congress with one goal website at www.copyright.gov/docs/ and use them to create replicas of the in mind: Help create a piece of massdigitization). The analysis will serve A jewelry that eventually will be worn by fake jewelry good enough for a first lady. as the basis for future research and policy Lincoln’s first lady – or, rather, actress With a small crowd in the Conserva- discussions. Sally Field, who plays the president’s tion Division watching, Harrell pulls out Another policy priority involves the wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. a camera and begins photographing a development of a discussion document The jewelry Harrell so thoroughly pearl necklace and two matching brace- and preliminary recommendations on photographed – constructed with hun- lets mounted on a green tray. copyright exceptions for libraries and dreds of small seed pearls strung on She shoots from every possible angle archives following the 2008 Section 108 horsehair – belonged to Mary Lincoln – left, right, up, down, over here, back Report sponsored by the Librarian of and resides among the Library’s col- there – then places a ruler alongside Congress and the register of copyrights. lections of Lincoln papers, photos and the jewels and shoots again, the better This report concluded that section artifacts. to illustrate the objects’ dimensions for 108 of the Copyright Act fails to meet Unless Field sports Mardi Gras beads, a viewer in some distant place. the needs of libraries and archives in the neckwear in “Lincoln” likely would go Harrell works on the production team COPYRIGHT, continued on page 6 for “Lincoln,” a historical drama directed LINCOLN, continued on page 4 2 T H E LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GA ZETTE NOVEMBER 4, 2011 NOTICES Take Your Veteran to Work Day GAZETTE Employees are welcome to invite veterans to join Veterans History Project www.loc.gov/staff/gazette (VHP) staff and volunteers in Veterans Day activities on Nov. 10. JENNIFER GAVIN Join us for a day of special tours, conversation and coffee, and even record Acting Executive Editor MARK HARTSELL an interview! Editor Contributing Editors: Erin Allen, Calendar; Activities begin at 9 a.m. in the VHP Information Center in LM 109. Carlin “René” Sayles, Moving On and Length of Service; Lisa Davis, Donated Leave Schedule Proofreader: George Thuronyi Design and Production: Ashley Jones 9 a.m. Welcome PETER BRAESTRUP GAIL FINEBERG JAMES W. McCLUNG Founder Founding Editor Founding Publisher 10 a.m. Interviews conducted by volunteer staff (1990 – 1997) (1990 – 2009) (1990 – 1994) 11 a.m. Tour of Geography and Map 1:45 p.m. Interviews conducted by volunteer staff An official publication of the Library of Congress,The Gazette 2 p.m. Tour of Geography and Map encourages Library managers and staff to submit articles and photographs of general interest. Submissions will be edited to convey the most necessary information. Deadline for submission of articles is 5 p.m. Wednesday, one week prior to publication date. Please submit text in digital form via e-mail ([email protected]) preferably as an attached How Are We Doing? Let Us Know Microsoft Word file. Back issues of The Gazette in print are available in the Public We’re surveying Library staff to find out how we can make the Gazette a better Affairs Office, LM 105. staff news outlet. Please take a moment to complete the 10-minute survey at Electronic archived issues and the a color PDF file of the current https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LOCGazette. Nov. 16 is the final day to fill issue are available online at www.loc.gov/staff/gazette. out the survey. Library of Congress If you don’t have access to a computer, a paper version of the survey is Washington, DC 20540-1620 Editorial: Mark Hartsell, 7-9194, [email protected] available in LM 105. All responses are completely confidential, and your Design and production: Ashley Jones, opinions will help us build a better Gazette. 7-9193, [email protected] ISSN 1049-8184 Printed on paper that contains recycled paper by the Printing Management Section, Office Systems Services OIG Would Like to Know Gazette Welcomes Letters from Staff Staff is invited to use the Forum pages for lively and thought- Report suspected illegal activities, waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement ful debate relevant to Library issues. However, just as other newspaper editors exercise discretion over which letters to in Library administration and operations to the Office of the Inspector General publish and how to edit them, so do we. In deciding whether (OIG). Library of Congress Regulation 211-6 explains the functions, authority or how much to publish, we consider content (including mis- statements of fact, libel, innuendo, ridicule of individuals or and responsibilities of the inspector general. Regulation 2023-9 explains the institution, personal attacks, and redundancy) and length the rights and responsibilities of Library employees regarding the inspector (the limit is 300 words). Letters must be signed by the author, whose place of work and general. telephone extension should be included so we can verify author- ship. Letter writers should understand that when they sign their letters and release them to us for publication they are relinquishing A link to all Library of Congress regulations is available on the staff intranet at privacy. If a letter calls for management response, for example, www.loc.gov/staff/ogc/. an explanation of a policy or actions or clarification of fact, we will ask for management response.—Ed. Contact the OIG hotline at 7-6306 or [email protected]. Or report anonymously by mail to: P.O. Box 15051, Washington, D.C., 20003-9997. Gazette Deadlines The deadline for editorial copy for the Nov. 18 Gazette is Wednesday, Nov. 9. E-mail editorial copy and letters to the editor to [email protected]. Library of Congress Research Orientation To promote events through the Library’s online calendar (www.loc.gov/loc/events) and the Gazette Calendar, e-mail event and The Humanities and Social Sciences Division offers an introduction for contact information to [email protected] by researchers to Library collections and resources. Sessions (10:30 a.m.– 9 a.m. Monday of the week of publication. noon) are scheduled for Nov. 7, 14 and 28. Registration is required by phone Boxed announcements should be submitted at 7-3370 or online at www.loc.gov/rr/main/inforeas/signup.php. For more electronically (text files) by 9 a.m. Monday the week of publication to [email protected]. information, call Kathy Woodrell (7-0945) or Abby Yochelson (7-2138). NOVEMBER 4, 2011 T H E LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GA ZETTE 3 NEWS Lost at Home, Somali Cultural Memory Lives at Library By Mary-Jane Deeb Congress may not have realized when it set the Library of Congress on a course to becoming the storehouse of the world’s knowledge that the Library also would become the preserver of the world’s memory. Over the past 200 years, numerous natural and man-made disasters have resulted in the destruction of libraries and archives around the world. Had the Library of Congress not held copies of many collections destroyed in their home countries, the history and creativity of many peoples of the world simply would have disappeared. Somalia is a case in point: When its civil war started in 1991, the first insti- Mary-Jane Deeb tutions to suffer were the universities, Abdulahi Ahmed (left) in the Near East Section in AMED and Mohamed Sheik Hassan museums, libraries, archives, bookstores (right) the CEO of Scansom publishers. and theaters – all the institutions that held the history and collective creativity [with Somali artists living in Europe and contains high-quality, grayscale photos of of Somalis. the United States], all the information, the Somali artists when they were young Today, nothing is left: The art and photographs and news clips in this book in the 1960s and images from Somali post- culture scene is gone. came from the Library’s collections. I ers, newspapers and magazines ads that Some artists fled to Europe and the made extensive use of the Somali news- will captivate readers who knew Somalia United States. Others were not so fortu- paper collections, as newspapers capture in happier days. nate: Some became refugees in neigh- the daily stories of a community and its In addition to the materials used for boring countries; some perished in the citizens better than any other form of the book, Ahmed discovered government armed conflict or as a result of the difficult publication.” documents that no longer exist in Soma- war conditions under which they lived.